Spring-hinge.



Patented June 3, I902. J. B. HUWLES.

SPRING HINGE.

No. 7m s44.

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N0. 70|,344. Patented lune 3, I902..

.3. B. HUWLES.

SPRING HINGE.

(Application filed Mar. 3, 1902.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE,

JOHN B. HOW'LES, OF SUGARGROVE, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPRING- HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,344, dated June 3,1902.

Application filed March 3,1902.

To all whom, it may concern:

, Be it known that 1, JOHN B. HOWLES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sugargrove, in the county of Warren and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring-Hinges; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in spring-hinges, andparticularly to a detachable spring-hinge for screen-doors.

The object of the invention is to provide a spring-hinge so constructedas to permit of the hinge being detached to remove the door without thenecessity of marring the woodwork by the withdrawal of screws; and,further, to provide a hinge in which the spring when broken may bereadily removed and replaced and acts to hold the door locked when thedoor is opened to the fullest position.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts,which will be hereinafter more fully set forth, and particularly definedin the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional planView of a door and the hinging-jamb of a door-frame, showing theapplication of the invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryperspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, showing the door swungpart way open. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the hinge with the partsin normal position. Fig. 4: is a rear elevation thereof. Fig. 5 is across-sectionthrough the center of the hinge, showing the parts in theposition they assume when the door is thrown full open. Fig. 6 is alongitudinal section through the jamb-leaf of the hinge on line 6 6 ofFig. 3, and Figs. 7 and 8 are front and rear views of the keeper-plate;

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 represents the hinging-jamb ofa door-frame; 2, the door, which may be an ordinary screendoor, and 3the hinge.

The hinge comprises the leaves land 5, having the usual pivotalconnection. The leaf 4,

as shown, is suitably aporturcd for the pas- Eerial No. 96,442. (Nomodel.)

sage of screws and is designed to be secured to the door, while the leaf5 has a detachable connection with a keeper-plate 6, adapted to bescrewed to the hinging-jamb of the doorframe. The detachable lockingconnection is effected through the instrumentality of the followingcoaoting features: The leaf 5 is provided at its outer edge with lugs 7,adapted to be'inserted through slots 8 beneath a raised rib or bar 9 atone side of the keeper-plate and is formed at its inner edge withT-shaped slots 10, whose enlarged portions are made rectangular toreceive correspondinglyshaped bosses 11 on the keeper-plate. Slidablyfitted in the smaller portions of the T- shaped slots are lookingtongues or lugs 12, which are adapted to fit within slot 13, formed insaid keeper-plate adjacent to the bosses 11, and to be inserted undersaid bosses to lock the hinge to the plate. As shown, the slots 13extend beneath the bosses, so that the locking-tongues when projectedbeneath said bosses will not project beyond the rear face of the plateand will not prevent the plate from fitting flat against the face of thedoorjamb 1. The tongues 12 are carried by the free ends of two levers 1415, which are pivotally connected at their inner ends to a stud oroperating device 16, sliding in a transverse slot 17, formed in the leaf5. The keeper-plate 6 is designed to be secured as a permanent fixtureto the jamb 1, and the purpose of said plate and the looking connectionsis to permit of the door being applied and removed whenever desiredwithout the necessity of detaching the keeper-plate or of inserting orwithdrawing any screws after the plate has once been applied to the jamband the hingeleaf 4: secured to the door. In hanging the door, assumingthe parts to have been previously attached to the door and jamb, thedoor is first held and manipulated to insert the lugs 7 inthe slots 8and then turned to bring said lugs beneath the ribs 9 and to insert thetongues 12 into the slots 13, when by simply forcing the studs 16 of theupper and lower hinges inwardly the levers 14: 15 will be straightenedout and brought in alinement,

thereby locking the leaves 5 of the hinges tomove the door, the studs 16are retracted to disengage the locking-tongues and the door thenproperly manipulated to withdraw the bosses 11 from the slots 12 anddisengage the lugs 7 from the ribs 9, whereupon the door may be removed.By this construction of the parts it will be seen that the door may berepeatedly applied in position and removed without the necessity ofinserting or withdrawing any screws and without in arring thedoor-frame.

The spring 18 of the hinge, which performs the customary function ofswinging the door closed, is constructed and mounted in such manner asto be readily removed when broken or injured, and is adapted to beemployed for locking the door when the latter is swung wide open anditis desired to retain it in that position. To these ends the spring,which is composed of a single piece of spring-wire, is bent to form anattaching portion resting against the outer face of the leaf 4 andprovided with a loop 19 to engage a hook 20 on said leaf, said loopbeing disposed at the center of said attaching portion, at theextremities of which are formed coils 21. As shown, the attachingportion is formed by properly bending the central portion of the wire,and from the coils 21 the arms 22 of the wire extend in reversedirections and are crossed at the point 23, thence formed with. coils 24and bent back and recrossed at 25, the free ends of the arms beingseated in keepers or sockets 26 on the hinge-leaf 5. By thisconstruction it will be seen that when the leaf 5 is swung outwardtoward the leaf 4 in the act of opening the door the crossedv arms willyield back toward the leaf 4: and at the same time spread apart againstthe resistance of the coils 21 and 24, the reaction of which when thedoor is released will swing said door back to its closed position. Thusa spring of maximum strength is formed from a single piece of wire. Ifit should be desired to maintain the door in open position, the door isswung wide open, and the crossed arms of the spring are therebydepressed against the face of the leaf 4: and the leaf 5 moved to aposition on the opposite side of the center line of the hinge in whichthe spring is rendered inactive except to act as a lock to prevent thedoor from casually closing. This will be readily understood by referenceto Fig. 5. To set the hinge for action again, the door is swung back tothe center line again,

when the expansive action of the spring will again be exerted to closeit.

In case of injury to the spring said spring may be readily removed bysimply forcing the free ends thereof out of the sockets 26 and thenslipping the loop 19 out of engagement with the hook 520, whereupon anew spring may be substituted therefor in an obvious manner.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, operation, and advantages of myinvention will be readily apparent, it is thought, without requiringamore extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the prin ciple orsacrificing any of the advantages of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a hinge of the character described, thecombination of a keeper-plate adapted to be applied to a door-frame, ahinge, one of the leaves of which is adapted to be secured to a door,levers pivotally connected to each other and provided with tongues forsecuring the other leaf of the hinge to the keeper-plate, and means foroperating said levers to project and retract said tongues, substantiallyas described.

2. In a hinge of the character described, the combination of akeeper-plate adapted to be secured to a door-frame and provided at oneedge with slots guarded byribs and adjacent to the opposite side edgewith slots and bosses, a hinge, one leaf of which is adapted to besocured to a door, the other being provided with lugs to engage saidslots and ribs, levers upon the latter-named leaf pivotally connected toeach other and provided with tongues to engage said slots and bosses,and a slidable operating device for actuating said levers to project andretract said tongues,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN B. HOWLES.

WVitnesses:

W. F. MIX, JOHN STUART.

